7 year old being made to do this by after school club..

[Figureitout1]

Picked up my DD7 from after school club (based in a nursery) on Friday and she was very upset. Turns out she and a friend had been in the loo (shared with 2 other classes - 3-5years class and 1-3 years class, about 60kids altogether). The friend had come in with muddy shoes and left muddy footprints. One of the cleaners in the nursery noticed and had a massive go at them and made them clean it up with paper towel!

I am very cross about this
a) because it's a toilet floor used by so many kids so the potential of them picking something up is high
b) my DD hadn't made the mess in the first place
c) they are kids and although they have to learn to clean up after themselves I feel this overstepped the mark.

I plan on speaking to the nursery about this next time they are in (Tuesday) but AIBU?

Thanks for all the responses!
Firstly, I think cross was the wrong word to use - I'm not angry or raging mad about it - more confused by what went on and annoyed by the lack of nursery workers involvement (not because cleaners are beneath my DD)
No I have not led my DD to believe that the cleaner is beneath her or that she was wronged - I just said that doesn't seem fair and left it at that.
My DD is normally very unbothered by these things and is known for being extremely helpful in tidying up situations wherever she goes. She isn't the type to see bad or "report" things like this so for her to be upset I know something untoward has happened (for instance she was being bullied by a friend at school but I knew nothing of this until her class teacher asked me if she saying or displaying any distress over it. When I asked my DD she said "oh that friend of mine sometimes goes in a bad mood and doesn't play nicely so I go and play with my other friends" - that's her type of personality, very laid back)
I'm concerned because I don't understand why the cleaner has authority to have a go at the kids.
And to the poster that mentioned that they were allowed into the bathroom with muddy shoes so why reprimand them for something that you as the adult was meant to prevent - I agree. And why have a go at both when only the other child was in the wrong?
And I'm a germophobe, especially in a nursery that has numerous D&V outbreaks every year, foot and mouth disease, etc and a floor that I have seen the younger children peeing and pooing on or the nursery workers dropping soiled nappies/wipes while changing little ones.
And for those that will ask how I have seen this the loo has double doors that are open onto the corridor where all the coats, shoes and bags are so if you stand there for 5min twice a day you see plenty 🤢🤢🤢
To put it into perspective if this had happened in another part of the nursery with one of the nursery teachers I would of not cared so much, I would have basically told DD that's life.
I'm not trying to be precious- just genuinely appalled, that's why am on here to gauge what others think.
And to those saying the cleaner had just cleaned the floor - she hadn't she was waiting for the remaining children to leave and then she was going to mop up.
Yes yes to all of you saying that if you as an adult were asked to do this the likelihood of doing it happily is most likely very slim.
Also annoyed because they were then told to leave as soon as they were done and weren't allowed back in to wash hands - apparently the cleaner was watching them.

milktray I will take your advice and just ask them to explain what happened and let them know that she was upset. I think yes I was taken aback that the cleaner didn't ask someone, like a play worker, who has more interaction with them to handle it.

My little brother, at age about 8, was once made to clean up a classmate's sick. When he came home he told us all, and I was outraged and said "why should you have to do that?", his reply "why should anybody else?".

Of course they are not banned from talking to children! I never said that.

However it is not for a cleaner in a nursery/after school setting to discipline a child. It is not a school setting. The cleaner should have got a trained staff member who would have a: backed her up by as I said doing the exact same thing and b: been able to talk to parent when she inquired about it.

By not having the back up of another member of staff she has opened herself up to an accusation of "having a massive go" "making the children do something" "putting them at risk of germs etc" with no one to back her up, no record of what happened and because this parent will bring it up with a playworker the cleaner will then be called into the office etc for her side. Causing complete unnesicary upset.

She should have got a playworker to deal with it. That's all I was saying, I also say to check it was not a playworker or nursery staff because I find it very difficult to believe that the cleaner would not only be there during nursery hours but put themselves in that position.

Cleaners and all support staff are very much part of the team and very much respected but nursery settings are very different to schools. If it had been at school it's completely different. Even a after school club in a school is completely different to a after school club at a nursery. It is not acceptable for anyone to "have a massive go" on in a nursery setting and this as I have said needs clarifying.

I'm concerned because I don't understand why the cleaner has authority to have a go at the kids.
As an adult employed at the setting, why on earth wouldn't she have the authority to ask the children to do something?

You only have your dd's word for all of this though. It seems unlikely that the cleaner would be cross about your dd's friend walking mud on a floor she was going to be cleaning anyway and tat numerous other children had already walked on. Is it possible they were asked to pick up a couple of large clumps they'd walked in with paper towels and take them back outside?
It's a bit odd that you would expect the cleaner to go through another party to speak to your child. Would it have been better f the playworker had asked her to clean the mud?

Good on the cleaner I say. Though not sure why your daughter had to clean it if she hadn't made any of the mess.

Milktray - "have a massive go" is the child's interpretation, "asked to wipe up mess" may well be more accurate. I don't really understand your point about school cleaners being allowed to ask children to do things but nursery cleaners not. I've worked in nurseries where cleaners were there during the day, and would fully expect them to ask or tell children to behave appropriately rather than go and find another member of staff. It sounds like a very odd distinction. Though maybe if your setting has never had cleaning staff around during the day you have just never experienced this scenario?

Yabvu, op.

At my school cleaners and kitchen staff are banned from talking to teacher, parents or children unless it's an emergency as it means they spend less time cleaning/cooking/working. But we have teachers on duty who would always ask children to clear up any mess, for example, in the dining room, they are taught and reminded to pick up everything in their "area" before they leave and to go and fetch a cloth to clean any mess or paper towels for spills.

That doesn't sound like a very friendly school locked out!!

Lockedout?
They are banned?
What a miserable place you must work in

banned. What kind of message is that giving? The minions may not speak?! Cinderella DO BE QUIET.

Well said, brasty.

OP, I hope you have taught your child to always wash their hands after touching anything dirty, just like anyone who has to clean up a mess has to do.

I have managed after school clubs. I would have backed up any cleaner in this position of telling a child to clean up their mess.

By the way there is no way 2 seven year old girls will clean up a mess properly on the floor with paper towels. What I would expect is for them to have picked up bits of mud on the floor and made an attempt to clean.

Some clubs though are so frightened of any accusations from parents that common sense goes out the window.

If your DD was upset about it and did not make the mess then you should have a word so that DD can feel heard.
But... if you had been a staff member you would prolly have asked both girls to do it.

If you are asking 'Is it OK for me to go to the nursery and find out what exactly happened to make my normally placid, easy going, helpful daughter very upset?' Then YANBU at all.

Maybe this was the last straw for a frustrated cleaner who's been scrubbing up toilet mess for the past few years and is almost at the point of thinking the children are doing it on purpose, and happened to let rip at your DD and her friend because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe she expressed herself in a way that your DD misunderstood and got upset over something she didn't need to be upset about.

If you say anything to the school, just say that they should have been allowed to wash their hands after. That's literally the only problem with the whole situation. The parents who sail into school every time they think their little darling has been treated 'unfairly', unfailingly have the most spoiled children.

Bora-did you actually read my post before making a snarky response? My objection was to the manner in which the requser was made. I don't expect children or adults to be ordered to do things. It is possible to issue an instruction as a teacher or a boss in a polite manner. It is possible to make a request of a friend or colleague politely.

Also if a child is being asked to do something which is dangerous or unhygienic then they have a right to refuse. I would not clean a toilet/bathroom floor with paper towels and bare hands and wouldn't expect a child to.

I would not clean a toilet/bathroom floor with paper towels and bare hands and wouldn't expect a child to.
Glad it's not just me. And I'm usually one of the people who cause hands raised in horror on cleaning threads, not exactly a germophobe! Perhaps being cautious about obvious germ havens is one reason my family rarely get ill despite not washing everything in sight every day.

Interesting how those blithe assumptions about just cleaned floor and hands washed afterwards turn out to be the opposite of the case.

Sorry, didn't see this Also annoyed because they were then told to leave as soon as they were done and weren't allowed back in to wash hands

That is appalling.

YANBU at all op.